By Dr. Eric Nissen ND

Proper diet and exercise are mainstays of weight loss. It stands to reason: if take in fewer calories than you expend, you will lose weight. Unfortunately, this does not work for many people, at least sustainably.

Enter the Set Weight Point Theory. This theory states that the body gets used to a particular body weight, or more specifically, a body fat percentage. If that body fat percentage drops below what it is normally, the brain perceives that the body is experiencing a famine, and a cascade of hormones and chemical messengers are released to reduce metabolism. Evolutionarily, this makes sense: shutting down metabolism in a time of famine will help prevent a person from burning through their vital reserves, thus helping that person live longer.

However, in modern society, not having access to enough calories is not an issue (at least for most of us). Our biggest challenge is not eating too many calories. This is made more challenging by eating foods that are nutrient-poor, so our bodies tell us to eat more and more food to get the nutrients they need. Additionally, modern-day foods have more intense flavors than what our ancestors were used to. Sugar and salt are in much more abundance, as well as artificial flavorings and flavor enhancers. So, we may very well eat more calories than we need because we’ve become addicted to those flavors and have lost the innate sense of eating just what the body needs.

So, it is possible to gradually ratchet up the set weight point. Most of us have experienced this. It is much more challenging to reduce it.

hCG, or human Chorionic Gonadotropin, combined with a low-calorie diet, is the best thing that I have come across that actually helps to establish a new lower set weight point. hCG is what a woman produces when she is pregnant. In times of famine, or a low-calorie diet, hCG will tell the hypothalamus in the brain to tell the body to mobilize fat stores. This ensures that the developing fetus receives the needed calories and nutrients to remain viable.

We can mimic these conditions by supplying a very low dose of hCG to a person who is eating a specific, low-calorie diet. This completely bypasses the body’s set weight point and, in fact, helps to establish a new one at the end of the program.

Weight loss is rapid, typically ½ pound to 1 pound per day. In any other circumstance, I would consider that to be too much. But with hCG, people don’t experience hunger or fatigue, and the results are sustainable after stopping the hCG. This is true for both men and women, young or older.

If you are curious about hCG and weight loss or have further questions, I am offering a round-table discussion at Glow on July 14th, from 6-7 p.m. I also offer free 15-minute consults during office hours to discuss your health further and decide if naturopathic medicine and/or hCG is right of for you.